Hope and Despair
by Carline
Summary: Ronins find a new armour, new bad guy, etc... I suck at summaries, PLEASE R&R, flames accepted! COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

Ok, people, this is my first fanfic, so be gentle (but do tell me if it's rubbish). By the way, the characters that you don't recognise are mine, as are the two poems, and I worked really hard on the poems, so no pinching. Please R&R (I especially want to know what you lot think of the poems).

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ronin Warriors (shame, but true). Please don't sue me. **

_**Hope and Despair **_

_**For hope**_

_Wildfire, the first,_

_To fight and to burn._

_Halo, the second,_

_To heal in turn._

_Hardrock, the third,_

_To shake stone and mortar._

_Torrent, the fourth,_

_To control the water._

_Strata, the fifth,_

_To bring aid from the sky._

_Spider, the sixth,_

_To trick and to spy._

_Ogre, the seventh,_

_To stray from his purpose._

_Jackal, the eighth,_

_To master the darkness._

_Cobra, the ninth,_

_To poison the unaware._

_Last of all, Ancient,_

_To lead and to care._

_For hope is the virtue_

_That avoids despair._

_**For Despair**_

_Dragon, the hateful,_

_Death is his aim._

_Centaur, the treacherous,_

_Prophet of pain._

_Chimera, the greedy,_

_Revenge is his crime._

_Unicorn, the malicious,_

_Keeper of time._

_Dryad, the avaricious,_

_Fighting nature's wrongs. _

_Mermaid, the envious,_

_Luring with song._

_Ayato, their leader,_

_Master of despair._

_To destroy the hope_

_That lingers in the air._

_**Prologue **_

It had been a year since the Talpa had been defeated. The Ronin Warriors had returned to their normal pursuits. The Warlords, having no-where else to go, went to live with them at Mia's house. The last year had been calm, no demonic emperor trying to take over the world, or anything like that. It was a month from the end of the summer holidays when Mia got a phone call, asking her if she could take another boarder, a girl who had lost her entire family in a fire that had also destroyed her home. The authorities were delighted to hear that Mia would take her. She was the same age as the Ronins and she would be going to school with them. She would arrive in a week.

The Lady watched from her throne in the Halls of the Dead. The girl's parents and siblings were now in her domain, like their ancestors before them. She waved her hand, and the window in front of her changed to a view of the girl herself. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes, which were now filled with tears. As the Lady watched, the girl stood up, dried her eyes, and for the first time the Lady saw the determination behind them. The girl was from a well-respected clan, specialists in martial arts, and the girl was, at sixteen, one of the most accomplished fighters the world had ever seen. The Lady smiled. The fate of the world as the mortals knew it rested on this girl's shoulders, but the Lady did not think that this burden would be too heavy for her.

The Lord watched also, from his palace in Heaven. This girl was his descendant, fruit of the love that he had had for a mortal woman, but in this war, he could do nothing to help her. She was the last barrier of mankind against the evil that threatened to engulf it. This evil, if the dark prophecy came to fruition, could destroy even the gods. The Lord sighed. He could do nothing but watch.

The girl spun around, startled. She could have sworn that someone was watching her, and her instincts were very rarely wrong, but no-one was there. She looked at the small, marble-shaped crystal in her hand. As she looked, the kanji of hope appeared inside the marble. Her forehead began to glow, and after a while, the glow took the form of the kanji inside the crystal. She understood. All her life, she had felt like she didn't belong, that her life's purpose was hidden from her, but no longer. She was Karala of Ancient, Warrior of Hope, and she would live up to that name.

Well, that's the first part done. What do you think? All you need to do now is **REVIEW**!

Carline


	2. Acquaintance

Okay, here's the next bit. Hope you like it.

Note : "" means someone's speaking, ''+ italics means they're thinking.

Note 2 : For the purposes of this fic, **Anubis is alive**. Don't ask me how, I'll probably explain it later on. If not, then hell, use your imagination.

**Again with the disclaimer : I do not, repeat do not own the Ronin Warriors. Please don't sue me. **

_**Chapter 1**_

Karala looked up at the mansion before her. This was going to be her home for the next two years. School started in three weeks time, so she had more than enough time to settle in before then. She sighed, thinking of her last home, in Tokyo, where she had lived all her life up till now, along with six brothers and sisters. Not that she had led a sheltered life by any means. Her father had been the most respected sensei in most of Japan for many years, and he had taught her everything, which had helped her more than once on the streets of Tokyo. She shook her head, getting rid of these sombre thoughts. She knew that inside, her family's death would hurt forever, but what was important was that no-one knew how much.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" The speaker was a boy about her own age, with tiger blue eyes and pitch black hair.

_'Hey, he's cute. Maybe this won't be that bad'_ Karala thought, taking in the boy next to her in a glance. 

"Uh, yeah, this is Ms. Koji's house, right? Only I'm the new boarder."

The boy smiled. "Yeah, this is Mia's house. I'm Ryo Sanada. What's your name?"

"My name's Karala Trinity."

The boy's eyes widened. She was a _Trinity_! Karala saw his expression and smiled ruefully. Her name always got that effect.

Ryo collected himself (i.e. he picked his jaw up off the ground)and picked up one of her suitcases for her. She shot him a grateful smile.

"Follow me", he said.

He led her into the house, where a couple more boys came to greet her. She smiled at their reactions to her name, realising that Ryo was probably quite good at hiding his feelings, judging from their reactions. It turned out that the blond one, Sage Date, had a father who ran a dojo in Toyama.

'_Maybe I'll be able to go there for practice_.' Karala thought hopefully.

A few minutes later, after having shown her her room, the boys (the other one was called Rowen) took her into the sitting room to meet the rest of the household.

Ryo cleared his throat. All the others looked up at him in curiosity.

"Okay, guys, this is Karala Trinity, the new boarder."

'_Here we go again'_, thought Karala, watching in faint amusement as they all tried not to show how impressed they were. She took the opportunity to look around and take in all the other people. Ryo started making introductions. There were five of them that looked slightly different from the rest of them. Dais, Sekhmet, Anubis, Kale and Kayura all had a slightly different bearing than the others, more austere. In fact, they all had something about them that made them different from all her friends back home. Less innocent, less fragile. Not that her friends had been all that innocent.

Ryo suddenly looked a bit nervous.

"You don't mind cats, do you?" he asked.

Karala blinked. "No, I love cats, why?"

"Cause we've got quite a big one." said Kento. A huge white tiger walked into the room. Karala grinned.

"Does he mind other cats?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she ran to the front door and called:

"Flame!"

A new tiger bounded up to the porch that she was standing on, and on her command followed her inside.

"This is Flame." Karala said.

Ryo laughed. "I guess we're even. This is White Blaze."

The two tigers took each other's measure for a few minutes, then, mutually deciding they were friends, went back to their owners.

"She is tame, isn't she?" Mia asked, worried.

"Of course." Karala responded. She hesitated. "I'm going to take a walk round the lake and stuff. Just to get my bearings a bit, you know."

She set off, waiting until she and Flame were out of eyeshot and earshot of the house to discuss her new housemates with the tiger. She smiled suddenly, stretching her wings. Part of wearing the Ancient's armour was the gift of being able to sprout wings and fly. She took off, while Flame turned into an eagle and followed her.

So how was it? Good? Bad? Awful? Review and tell me. I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible.

Carline


	3. Different

Right, next bit. I'm on a roll with this fic at the moment. I'll probably get writer's bock for the next ten chapters.

_**Chapter 2**_

The Warlords relaxed visibly when Karala left. Kayura especially looked extremely worried.

"Did any of you sense something...different about her?" she asked.

"I noticed that trying to talk to Ryo around her is like shouting down a well!" Kento laughed. "She's only been here an hour, and you've already got it bad for her! Sage, you've got competition!"

Everyone laughed, except Ryo, who looked a bit disconcerted at being rumbled. When they had all calmed down, Kayura continued:

"No, I meant that I got an unusual power reading from her, but she was hiding most of it, so I couldn't tell exactly how much. I would be willing to bet anything that her power exceeds anything we've seen previously."

Anubis looked thoughtful.

"The most disturbing bit about that is that she knows how to hide it, because I didn't feel anything. If she knows how to hide her power, then she knows how to use all the other aspects of it. If she's our enemy, then we're in trouble."

"Look, I think you're all jumping to conclusions a bit too quickly." Cye put in. "She might be a new ally, which would be useful if we do have a new enemy."

"Plus she is seriously cute!" Sage grinned wickedly. "Looks like it's a race between me and you, Ryo!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Karala soared over a wisp of cloud. She loved flying, it was one of the things that made her glad that she had this armour. Her thoughts turned to her new housemates. She could tell that they didn't trust her.

'_Guess that makes us quits, then, because I don't trust them either. They don't have to trust me, although that might work against me if they're who I think they are. If they're the Ronin Warriors, then they probably think that I'm their enemy.'_

She decided to stop worrying, and just enjoy her flight. She might not get many more opportunities.

**A week later...**

"Hey, Kal, we're going into Toyama to get our school stuff. Wanna come?" Kento yelled from where Mia was getting her jeep going.

"Give me a minute, I'm coming!" Karala yelled back, running up to her room to get her purse. She ran out the front door.

"Jeez, what took you so long?" Rowen teased as she got in.

"Trying to stall so I would have an excuse for not going back to school!" Karala replied dryly. She had got used to the boys' teasing. Her brothers had never left her alone for a second.

"Not looking forward to going back to school, then, Kal?" Cye asked. She had asked very early on that they all call her Kal, Karala was just too much of a mouthful. Her little sister had given her that name, and it had sort of stuck. She preferred it to her full name, which her parents had only used when they were cross about something, or they had to have a talk with her (you know the kind).

"I don't mind school in itself, it's the detentions that come with it that I don't like."

"You any good at it?" Rowen asked casually.

Karala gave him a look.

"I've got an IQ of 156." She said calmly, ignoring the amazement on Rowen's face. "Most of it is languages, though. I speak English, French, German and Italian fluently, although my English and French are better than the other two."

Everyone else was trying to hold back their laughter. Not even Rowen was that good at languages, and it was obvious that if she was telling the truth, then Rowen was going to lose his reputation as the smartest kid in the school.

They rounded a end in the road, and were shocked to see a familiar darkness over Toyama. Ryo and the others jumped out of the jeep, looking horrified to see it. As if that was a signal, hundreds of Tin Cans appeared in front of them.

"Oh, great! Just wonderful!" Ryo said sarcastically. "Mia, get back to the house, get the others."

As Mia turned to obey Ryo, Karala got out of the jeep.

"What are you doing? This is dangerous!" Sage practically screamed at her.

Karala looked at him coolly. "This is as much my fight as yours, Sage of Halo."

The others gaped at her. She ignored them and took stock of the soldiers surrounding them, before saying:

"Are you lot going to stand there forever, or are you going to pull your act together and fight these guys?"

She started to glow, the glow started at her forehead , before spreading to the rest of her body. Suddenly the light flashed, and she was left standing in subarmour. A pure white subarmour, the only colour her armour took in it's natural form. She looked around, then suddenly six people in armour appeared in front of the Warriors.

"Good to see you again, Karala." said the one in grey and black armour.

Ooh, cliff-hanger. Sometimes I'm so evil I surprise even myself! So, who do you think he is? Come on, it's a no-brainer!

Carline


	4. Attack

So, any comments on the story so far? Here's the next bit.

Reviews:

Isabel Night: Thanks for the advice, but I've had this story going for ages, and I can't picture calling her anything but Karala. The Lord and Lady are done on purpose, I'd only get the Japanese ones mixed up.

Queen Diamond:Thanks ever so much. Nice to know that someone apart from me thinks it's good.

_**Chapter 3**_

Karala stiffened as she regarded the man in front of her.

"Go to hell, Charaka" she snarled, hate distorting her voice as she spoke. "Don't you think you've ruined my life enough already, without showing up here?"

"Well, now that I think about it...No, I don't think so!" Charaka answered with an evil grin.

Rowen recovered the use of his wits enough to ask who the intruders were.

"What you don't know can't hurt you, Strata." another one said. "However, if you insist..."

"I am Charaka, leader of the Warlords. I am the Warlord of Death."

"I am Rokayu. I am the Warlord of Pain." The man in black and white armour said.

"I am Faran. I am the Warlord of Revenge." said the man in black and yellow armour.

"I am Jasta. I am the Warlady of Time." This time the speaker was a woman in pink and black armour.

"I am Syren. I am the Warlady of Song." This time a woman in blue and white armour spoke.

"I am Darya. I am the Warlady of Nature." The last woman said, wearing green and black armour.

Karala watched this display, not letting any of her emotions show. When they'd finished, she snorted derisively, saying:

"Well if you lot are the best Ayato has, he'd better give up now and avoid all the pain and embarrassment."

Charaka spun around to face her.

"Well you couldn't beat us last time, could you? In fact, if I remember rightly, you lost quite badly."

Karala flinched. She looked up at him for a moment, then, slowly, deliberately, she traced a circle in the air over her head. It glowed white, while her kanji did the same. She then made a sweeping motion downwards with her arm. The circle came down around her, enveloping her in a white light as it touched the ground.

"I call upon the powers of the Ancient to help me win this battle!" she cried.

When the light was gone, she was standing in full armour, which was still completely white.

"I am Karala, Warrior of Hope." she said grimly. "Let's see if I can do better this time."

Her transformation shook the Ronins into action. They transformed into their armours, still looking distinctly shaken.

"Armour of Wildfire, Tao Jin!"

"Armour of Halo, Tao Chi!"

"Armour of Strata, Tao Inochi!"

"Armour of Torrent, Tao Shin!"

"Armour of Hardrock, Tao Gi!"

A flash, then all the Ronins were standing there in subarmour.

"Oh, how cute! The little boys are trying to help!" Jasta laughed.

"Like I believe Karala has already told you, go to hell." Ryo answered.

The Warlords and Kayura chose that moment to show up, all in full armour. They looked stunned to see Karala standing there, wearing an armour.

"You're outnumbered. Go home." Anubis told them, recovering from the shock of finding a new armour.

"I don't think so, traitor. If you come back now, Master Ayato may yet show you mercy. If not..." Faran threatened.

This remark incensed Karala.

"Yeah, like he knows the meaning of the word! I'm giving you ten seconds to get out of my sight. After that, I can't be accountable for my actions!" she countered. To the Ronins, she ordered: "Stay out of this. This is my fight."

She pulled a pair of katanas out of their sheaths, and took a defensive position. Charaka grinned. They had expected this to happen. He gave a signal to his fellow Warlords. Seconds later, they all attacked at once, using their sure-kills.

(Note: It should be obvious whose attack is whose.)

"Death of Armies!"

"Pain of Adversaries!"

"Revenge of the Beast!"

"Time Warp!"

"Song of the Sea Nymph!"

"Animosity of Nature!"

Woohoo, yet another cliff-hanger! Read the next bit if you want to find out what happens.

Carline


	5. Explanation

_**Chapter 4**_

The attacks engulfed Karala, who hadn't flinched as she watched them approach. When the dust cleared the Ronins saw with astonishment that she was unharmed.

"What! This is impossible! You should have died!" Syren screamed.

"Guess I decided not to." Karala shrugged.

The Warlords all looked a bit nervous now, especially Charaka.

Karala smiled.

"My turn." she said. "Fury of the Ancient!" she yelled.

A beam of white light shot from her swords, smashing into the Warlords, who all screamed in pain. When she stopped the attack, the Warlords had disappeared.

"They're... dead?" asked Cye.

"No, they teleported back to the Dynasty before they were destroyed." Karala answered.

Kayura turned to Karala, obviously angry.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Later, back at Mia's house 

"What do I have to explain? It seems pretty obvious to me!" Karala protested.

"You lied to us. You knew who we were, you knew you could tell us. Why didn't you?" Dais answered back.

"Maybe I did know who you were, but how the hell was I supposed to know that I could trust you? For all I knew you were in with them!"

"I thought you said you were the Ancient's descendant. He could have told you." Kayura returned.

"He's dead, and he didn't see fit to come back and tell me."

"Maybe you should just have trusted us." Mia said quietly.

Karala's expression turned bitter.

"I don't trust anyone anymore."

"Why not?" Sekhmet asked.

"Because I lost the ability to trust easily when Charaka and the Warlords murdered my family!" Karala said.

"The police said they died in a fire..." Cye looked horrified.

"The fire was just a cover-up. They didn't want anyone to know that they were murdered." Karala turned and walked out of the room. After a pause, Ryo followed her.

"Why are you following me?"

"Just making sure you were OK."

"And incidentally to make sure that I can't walk in on them while they're trying to decide whether or not I can stay."

"How did you know?"

"I didn't. I guessed."

When they came back into the house, they were pounced on by everyone else.

"We had a vote, and it's a tie. Kayura, Kale, Sekhmet, Dais and Mia think you should go, and Rowen, Cye, Kento, Anubis and I think you should stay." Sage said. "It's Ryo's decision."

Ryo didn't hesitate.

"She stays." he announced.

Those who were against Karala's staying began immediately to protest.

"She's dangerous. If she stays, she'll be a danger to the team." Kayura asserted.

"If she goes, we lose a valuable advantage in this war." Ryo answered.

"But this is Mia's house. She really should decide." Kale tried.

"And I say she leaves." Mia put in.

"But you agreed to go by my vote, didn't you? I say she stays, and that's final."

Karala was amazed.

'_Why's he protecting me? He doesn't even know me that well!'_


	6. Nightmare

So, next chapter. Yippee! By the way, I'm warning you lot now. If you don't review I won't continue it. Thanks to those who have reviewed, now if the rest of you would just stop being lazy...

_**Chapter 5**_

Mia was furious.

'_Ryo's chosen her over me?'_

"I guess I'll go get dinner." she said, moving towards the kitchen.

"Do you want any help?" Karala asked her.

"No, thanks, I'll be fine." Mia replied coldly.

Karala looked worried.

"What did I do?" she asked as soon as Mia had left the room.

Ryo was puzzled.

'_Why did Mia do that? She's usually really easygoing!_'

"Nothing." Kento reassured her. "Maybe she's just in a bad mood."

"Maybe she's jealous?" Rowen suggested.

"Jealous! Jealous of what, exactly!" Karala exclaimed.

"I don't know, I'm just trying to come up with reasons here!" Rowen defended himself.

Karala sighed, then turned and walked out of the room. Sage smiled suddenly.

"I think I know what you meant." he said to Rowen.

Rowen raised his eyebrows. The rest of the Ronins looked mildly interested.

"You think that Mia's jealous of Kal because Ryo likes her..." Ryo went red at this point. "...and she likes him, and that Mia might be in love with Ryo!"

Ryo followed Karala out of the room.

"It's not so much that I think Mia loves Ryo, I just think she might get a little protective of us, and so she doesn't like any-one taking over." Rowen said thoughtfully.

**That night...**

Ryo woke with a start.

'_What the hell was that?'_ he thought wildly, trying to bring his scattered thoughts back together. He saw his nightmare over and over again in his head. He got up abruptly pulled on a few clothes and climbed out his window. He landed with a soft thud on the ground below. He started towards the lake. He always went there when he had a dream like this.

When he got there, he was surprised to find someone else there as well. Karala turned around, a dagger halfway out of it's sheath before she registered who it was. She returned the dagger to it's sheath on her thigh before sitting down and inquiring what Ryo was doing out here at this time.

"I had a nightmare" he answered, sitting down next to her.

Karala studied his face for a moment, then, turning back, she asked:

"You too, huh? What did you see?"

"I didn't know what it was that I was seeing at the time, but I think that I saw your family being..."

"Being murdered, you mean." she said it very matter-of-factly. "I get that nightmare every night. I don't go to sleep any more, because I'm scared of what I'll see if I do."

"But why did I see it though? I wasn't there, so how could I remember it?"

"I don't know." Karala admitted. "It should be impossible, except in the case of family. If a close member of your family saw it, then the telepathic link that exists to a certain extent in everybody might show it to you. It would have to be a _very _close member, either a parent or a sibling, or the link doesn't work. Even if you've never seen this family member it could still happen."

"But I haven't got any family left. My mother died when I was very young, and my father a few years ago on a safari trip. I don't have any brothers or sisters."

Karala sighed. "Maybe it's just an exception to the rule." She stood up, brushed herself off, and started back towards the house. Ryo caught her arm as she went past him, and when she turned back, kissed her softly on the lips. When they broke apart, she shook herself free and ran back to the house.

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**So, what do you think? Come on, review. I live, breathe and eat feedback. If you don't review then you'll be responsible for my death. Tell me what you think!**

**Carline**


	7. School

_**Chapter 6**_

_Three weeks later…_

Karala got off the bus, following the Ronins as they walked into school. This was going to be difficult. There'd be the usual questions, about her family, the condolences from those who had met them, and then there'd be the other students, mostly boys, which would be almost as hurtful. It was enough to make wish she'd been born ugly and disabled. Maybe that way they'd have left her alone. She looked up as Ryo dropped back to walk beside her.

"You alright?" he asked. She smiled at the question. He'd been asking it for the past few weeks. She nodded, and went back to her thoughts. Kayura and the Warlords had accepted her, first because they couldn't do anything about it, and then because they enjoyed her being around. She and Kayura were now good friends, and the Warlords were always surprised at exactly how much she knew about them and the armours. Mia was the only hitch in what seemed for the to be, Ronins and Warlords, a perfect life. Mia hated her, for reasons that only Mia knew about. To the others it just looked as if she was jealous of her easiness with people and her ability to make friends. Karala shook herself and turned her thoughts back to school and their various classes.

As soon as they entered the school gates, Sage was swarmed by a crowd of girls. Karala smiled as she watched him, then her face changed as an evil grin formed on it. Walking up to Sage she turned to the other girls and said:

"Look, he's _my_ boyfriend, so you lot can get lost now!"

The girls all sent disgusted glances in her direction. Sage looked like he was about to have a fit. The other Ronins were doing their best to choke down laughter.

"What the hell were you doing? Since when have you been my girlfriend?" Sage demanded.

"I think you just got beaten at your own game, mate!" Rowen said with a laugh.

Karala was saved from having to reply to Sage by the bell. She headed for the Principal's office while the others went to class.

"Ah, you must be Miss Trinity. Come in and have a seat." the principal motioned her into his office.

"I was most sorry to hear of your family's deaths. More sorry than you could know."

"Thank-you, sir."

"On to school matters, then. You're in almost all the same classes as Rowen Hashiba, I believe you've already met him."

"Yes sir."

"The only class where you are not with him is in biology, where you will be with Ryo Sanada and Sage Date. Here is your schedule. I hope you have a pleasant school year." He handed her a sheet of paper.

"Thank-you sir."

"You are dismissed."

Karala left the room, trying hard not to laugh. Principals were the same the world over. She looked at her schedule. Apparently she was supposed to be in French. Good. She liked languages. She reached the French classroom and knocked.

"Entrez!"

She entered the room. Rowen was at the back and had saved her a place. She smiled at him.

"Alors, tu es la nouvelle étudiante? Pourrais-tu te présenter avant que l'on continue le cours ? »

Karala smiled at the request. It would be amusing if no-one understood.

"Je m'appelle Karala Trinity. Je suis japonaise et je parle couramment le français et l'anglais, et je travaille mon italien et mon allemand. Ravie de vous rencontrer. » she said, before walking to the back of the room and sitting down beside Rowen.

The teacher looked a bit nonplussed. He wasn't supposed to have to teach people who could evidently speak the language better than he himself.

"Bien... Nous continuons donc le cours."

Karala took the lesson as an opportunity to watch her fellow students. Most of them couldn't speak French nearly as well as she could. Even Rowen couldn't.

The morning was uneventful, so no-one was in an unduly bad mood at lunch. Karala and Rowen made their way over to where the others were waiting for them.

"So? How was it?" Kento asked.

"Not bad." Karala responded.

"Not bad!" Rowen exploded from behind her. "She's better than I am at everything, not just the languages. It's embarrassing in the extreme!"

They all laughed and sat down to lunch. Soon after a group of boys came over. Karala saw them coming.

"Damn! Just when everything was going so well." Turning to the others she said: "Let me deal with this, I don't want you involved."

They all turned round at this request, and promptly swore at the sight of the boys.

"Kal, you can't fight them! They're the best fighters in the school and you do not want to get on their wrong side. They're dangerous!" Sage told her. There was a gleam in Karala's eyes that he didn't like.

"So am I, Sage. Stay out of it. This is my fight." she replied. Sage groaned. He'd heard that before.

The boys made a beeline for Karala.

"Hey." said the leader.

"Hi."

"So, what's your name? Where do you come from?"

"Why, does it have anything to do with you?"

"Look, girl, I don't want to ruin your face. Don't make me."

"I was never going to make you, although I'm surprised that you thought that up all on your own. You might not be as stupid as I originally thought."

The boy blinked, before moving closer to Karala.

"Right, that does it! You either apologize or you get your face smashed in! Take your pick." The boy seemed to think she's choose the first. He was wrong.

"Sounds like a good deal, but I think I've got a better one. Either you get the hell away from me or you end up in a heap on the ground!" Karala smirked.

"Fine, you asked for it!" A small crowd had gathered to watch. Karala turned around, as if to go back to her lunch. The boy put his hand on her shoulder to turn her back. Big mistake.

Karala whirled round and hit the boy in the chest with enough force to send him crashing into the wall opposite. He got back up, but made no move towards her. He knew when he was beaten. She turned around and sat back down. The boy's cronies followed him to the other side of the school. The crowd slowly dispersed, muttering compliments to Karala on her fighting skill. She looked up and saw the Ronins looking at her.

"What!"

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**The French translates as:**

**"Enter"**

**"So, you're the new student? Could you present yourself before we carry on with the lesson?"**

**"I am called Karala Trinity. I am Japanese, and I speak French and English fluently, and I'm working on my German and Italian. Pleased to meet you."**

**"Good... We will continue the lesson."**

**I would like to thank my two faithful reviewers, Meira Evenstar and Queen Diamond. This chapter is dedicated to you. Now, if you could go read my other fics (_Element _and _Legacy of the Abhorsen, _although_ Abhorsen _would depend on you having read the book) and tell me what you think, I will love you forever. I will try to update as soon as possible.**

**Carline**


	8. Capture

_**Chapter 7**_

Karala was bored. They were on their way home, and the boys hadn't stopped nagging her for the entire journey. They were still going on about why she shouldn't have fought the boy at school. She finally cracked.

"Look, would you just give it a bloody rest! It's my problem and I dealt with it. End of story."

The Ronins looked surprised at her outburst. The atmosphere grew even more tense as Mia entered the room.

"Good day?" she asked.

"Fine, apart from the fact that Kal almost killed someone just for flirting with her." Sage answered irritably.

"You what?" Anubis asked, coming into the room with the other Warlords just in time to hear Sage's remark.

"Don't listen to him, he's exaggerating. I just threw the guy into the opposite wall. I had myself perfectly under control." Karala countered.

"And why did you feel it necessary to throw him into the wall?" Kale asked innocently.

"He was being a git." Karala answered, in a tone that didn't invite comment.

"You shouldn't do that. I'm responsible for you and I don't want you dragged into court just for a light flirtation." Mia said crossly.

Karala's face lost some of the amusement at the general banter.

"Oh please, Mia, we all know you don't give a damn about me. Why bother pretending?" she said coldly.

Mia glared at her for a moment, then turned around and left the room.

Kayura took a deep breath.

"Um, Kal? Would it be possible for you and Mia to stop trying to kill each other at every opportunity? I'm getting really bored of it."

"Fine... As long as you talk to her and get her to agree that she has absolutely no authority over my or anything I do. I would like to remind you that it's not my fault she's got a thick head." Karala turned and ran up the stairs and into her room.

"Why is it always me?" she asked her tiger. "Either they love me or they hate me, there's no happy medium!"

* * *

Mia stormed out of the house and over to the lake. It wasn't fair. She'd been there for the Ronins ever since they first got together, and now they all put Karala first in everything.

"Mia?"

She turned around. Ryo had followed her.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong! I'll tell you what's damn well wrong! You've known me for a good year, and then all of a sudden this girl comes along and you put her first, she's the most important and everything, and I hate her!"

Ryo didn't say anything.

"How touching. You're jealous of Karala. I wouldn't have expected such a lack of judgement."

Ryo stood up, simultaneously transforming into his subarmour.

"What are you doing here?"

Charaka smiled. "Me? I'm here to take you back to my master, and since the girl's here, I see no reason why she shouldn't come as well."

"Yeah? Well here's news for you, you're going to have to go through me first!"

"Very well." Charaka extended his hand, and a bolt of black lightning shot from the tips of his fingers. Ryo crumpled to the ground, passing out from the pain of the attack.

"Pitiful!" Charaka sneered. Faran appeared beside him and grabbed Mia on his command. They disappeared, leaving no trace of their having been there.

* * *

Ryo woke up several hours later in a cell deep in the Dynasty. Mia was bent over him, trying to wake him up.

"Ryo, thank God! I was starting to get really worried!"

"Where are we, d'you know?"

"No idea. The two who brought us here teleported here, so I don't know the way out. Sorry."

Ryo swore. "So we're stuck in the Dynasty, with no idea how to get out or why we're here."

The cell door opened. Syren stood outside with Jasta.

"Wildfire, come with us. You stay here." Syren said, addressing the second order to Mia.

Ryo walked in front of his captors to the throne room. They entered, the door clanging shut behind them.

The man sitting in the throne spoke quietly to Rokayu, then turned to Ryo, who shuddered involuntarily. The man generated an aura that would have put Talpa to shame. He had long black hair, and eyes as black as coal, even though they glowed, a black light that inspired despair.

"So, you are Ryo of Wildfire." The man's voice was completely void of emotions. "I am Ayato, emperor of the Dynasty. I have waited entire millennia to meet you."

Ryo said nothing.

"You may find it surprising to find how much I know about you, and of course your group of warriors. I do not, however, know anything about Karala of Ancient, only what any person in your civil service knows about her. That is where you come in. Tell me what you know about her." It was not a question.

"And if I refuse?" Ryo's throat dried up as he spoke. He knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

Ayato smiled. "I understand your friends Halo, Torrent and Hardrock spent some time in the Gargoyles, but that you and Strata managed to escape the ordeal. You will either tell me what you know or you will be put through the same pain that they were." Ayato watched the boy's face. He would not give in, he knew. He was his father's son.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Ryo?" Kento asked, coming into the living room.

Karala looked up from her magazine.

"Not since he went out after Mia. Why?" Kayura answered.

"I've just got a bad feeling about something. I'm going to go look for him."

"I'll come with you." Karala stood up, following Kento out into the garden. Suddenly she collapsed onto the ground, shaking.

"What's wrong?" Sage asked.

Karala's eyes showed fear for the first time in their memory.

"They've got him!"

* * *

**And another chapter. I really am on a roll. Thanks to Queen Diamond for her review, and if you could look into _Element_ that would be a great help. _Legacy of the Abhorsen_ is based on _Harry Potter_ and the _Sabriel_ trilogy by Garth Nix. It shouldn't be too complicated and I'll put a summary somewhere in the actual story, when they explain to the others who they are. Go check it out, you might like it.****Carline**


	9. Plans

_**Chapter 8**_

_Mia's living room…_

Kayura composed herself.

"How do you know Ayato has them?" she asked Karala. The girl was pale, very abnormal.

"I don't know, I can just feel it."

Kayura considered this for a second. "I'm not going to take the chance that you're wrong, so we're going to have to go and rescue them. The only problem is, we have no idea of the layout of his fortress, or where they're being kept. Unless..." she trailed off, looking at Karala.

Karala looked uncomfortable. "I know where they are, and I can lead you to them." she stated quietly.

Kale studied her face for a second. "There's something you're not telling us." he said.

Karala looked at him, her features showing surprise at his having noticed. She sighed.

"It was always going to come out someday." she paused. "When Charaka and the other Warlords killed my parents, they captured me as well. They tortured me for about a week, then Jasta brought me back in time so no-one would notice that I'd been gone. The dungeons are all in the same place, plus I can feel them. I also know what time the guard changes and several of the secret passages."

Everyone else was stunned. She'd been through more than they'd thought.

Sekhmet cleared his throat. "Not to be seen as insensitive, but we really need to get Ryo out of there. What's our plan?"

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Ryo was curled up in a cell, different from the first one, his body wracked with pain. Mia was somewhere else, but he didn't care. He jumped when the door opened. This time it was Darya, on her own. She motioned him up, then gestured for him to follow her. He did so without comment.

They stopped in front of the throne room again. The Warlady of Nature turned to him, saying: "A word of advice, Wildfire. Master Ayato does not like to be kept waiting. Tell him what you know or he will make your life a burden to you."

She pushed him through the doors and followed him silently. Ryo found himself again in the presence of the master of the Dynasty.

Ayato smiled cruelly. "I trust you enjoyed your stay in the Gargoyles?"

Ryo said nothing.

"No doubt Darya will have warned you what will happen should you fail to supply me with the information I need."

"Why do you want to know about her?" Ryo asked.

"I want to know her weaknesses, her strengths, anything that could be useful in a battle. She is the single greatest threat to my empire, and I would like to hold some trump cards in my hand when I confront her."

"What would you do if I did tell you?"

"I might let you go, I suppose, but at the very least you would not endure any more torture." Ayato watched the boy carefully. "Will you tell me or not?"

"No."

"Very well. You know the consequences."

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Sage smiled. Karala's plan was straightforward, simple, and not what the emperor would expect. Brilliant.

"So when do we leave?" Kento asked, grinning.

Karala smiled back. "As soon as I can find the opening in the shield."

"Why is there an opening?" Kale looked puzzled.

"There's too much concentrated power in the Dynasty to be kept there permanently. There has to be an opening or the entire dimension would explode." Karala explained.

She closed her eyes. The others could feel her reaching out for this opening. She stayed like that for what seemed like hours, before opening her eyes and grinning.

"Got it!"

A black portal opened in front of them. Karala stood up and walked through, followed by the others. The portal closed silently behind them.

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**Well? Reactions, reviews, etc? PLEASE!**

**Carline**

**P.S. Thanks to Queen Diamond for her review.**


	10. Rescue

**Sorry I haven't updated in ages, I've been in Germany for the past two weeks, so I couldn't really do anything.**

**Thank-you to Queen Diamond, School Boredom, Mcmkitn and Inda for their reviews. You're my favourite people in the world. **

**Review from Inda : What do you mean ? I don't think I've had Ryo be nasty to her... Unless you mean the remark about the lack of judgement, in which case it's Charaka that says that. I'm afraid I hate Mia with a vengeance, but I know I can't have the Ronins be nasty to her. Bit of a shame, really. Sorry you don't like Karala.**

Chapter 9 

_In the Dynasty..._

Ryo sat in a corner of his cell, thinking and trying to ignore the pain he felt all over him. Ayato had obviously only given him a taste of pain the first time, and Ryo was willing to bet that it'd get worse every time.

'_What the hell am I going to do? If I tell him anything then I'm betraying Karala and the others, and if I don't then this'll just carry on. Put like that, I don't have a choice. I'll just have to cope.' _Ryo sighed. The sooner the others got there the better.

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Karala looked around, taking stock of her surroundings. They were lucky, the opening had been on the same side of the castle as the dungeons. '_Gods I hate this place_.'

She turned to the others. "We're on the right side of the castle, and I can get us in easily. When we get in there, Kale, Sekhmet, Dais, Anubis and Kayura, you go after Mia. The rest of us will go find Ryo. Clear?"

The others nodded.

"Ok, let's go."

She turned and walked up to the wall. She smiled. It was newly built and still slightly fragile. She ran her hand down it, then whispered something that was lost on the breeze, and suddenly the wall crumbled, making no sound. Kayura looked at her sharply.

"I'll explain later." Karala promised. "You can feel where Mia is?" They nodded. "Good. Dais, if you could set up an illusion to hide the non-existent wall, then we can get going." Dais nodded, closing his eyes for a second, then opening them when he was done.

"When you find Mia, just get out of here. Don't worry about us. Got it?" Karala warned them.

"What if you get captured?" Kale asked. Karala looked at him.

"If they capture me, then they're the ones who're going to need your pity, not me!" Karala said with a grin. She motioned to the others. "Follow me."

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Ryo looked up. Someone was moving outside his cell. Very quietly, but there nonetheless. The lock clicked suddenly, and Karala stuck her head round the door. She grinned.

"Hey Ryo." She came over to him and helped him to stand. "You ok?"

He nodded, wincing at the pain the movement caused him. The other Ronins followed the girl into the room. Sage held something out to Ryo. His armour crystal.

"We found it outside." Sage said, dropping it into his hand. Ryo changed into his subarmour. The pain diminished for a moment, only to come back stronger a second later.

"We'd better get going." Karala said. "We kind of, er... broke in, and I don't think Ayato'll be very happy about that." She moved towards the door, followed quickly by everyone else. She walked out into the corridor, the boys following her as quietly as possible. Ryo watched her. It felt strange not to be the leader, but looking at her, he realized that she was probably better suited to the job. She moved like a cat, her movements sleek and fluid. She tensed suddenly, then, gesturing the rest of them into the shadows, walked forward to meet the two Dynasty soldiers who had appeared at the end of the corridor. They immediately went on guard, although they were puzzled. The girl in front of them wasn't wearing armour, nor did she have any weapons. At least that's what they thought.

Karala reached for the two knives in her shoulder scabbards, flicking them out with practiced ease. Ten seconds later, both soldiers were dead.

"Come on. They probably weren't the only ones here."

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Kayura was worried. They had got back to the mansion an hour ago, and Karala still hadn't showed up. Suddenly the portal in front of her shimmered and the Ronins, followed closely by Karala, tumbled through. Karala picked herself up quickly, then turned around and closed the portal, before following the Ronins into the house.

She found Mia fussing around all the Ronins and Warlords, who were all stretched out on the couches. She smiled to herself. Men.

"Alright, start talking. What happened?" Sage demanded, addressing himself to Ryo. "What did they want you for?"

"Nothing much, just trying to find out about Karala. Ayato seems to think that you're the single greatest threat to his Dynasty ever."

Karala looked at him. Something was wrong. "That's all? Nothing else"

"No, don't think so."

"And now _you_ can explain how you managed to knock that wall down just by touching it!" Kayura told Karala.

Karala sighed. "Just one of the side effects of the Ancient's armour."

"Oh..."

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**So, what do you think? Qu'est-ce que vous en pensez? Review, please….(not entirely sure what that is in French.) Laissez un revue, s'il vous plait ?**

**Carline**


	11. Prophecy

**Review from Inda : Thank-you for bringing Karala to my attention, I think I'll tone her down, at least a little bit, but sometimes the need to make her say smart ars comments is just too strong ! I got my mum to read it and she said the same. I tend to do the same in real life, so it's too easy to base Karala on me! **

_**Chapter 10**_

_The Dynasty_ ...

"You let them escape." Ayato's voice held no emotion. "Perhaps I was mistaken in my choice of bearers for the despair armours."

"Master, we didn't..."Charaka started.

"Didn't what?" Charaka fell silent.

"Master, we could capture them again, if you wish..." Syren asserted.

"I have no doubt of that, it is your ability to keep them here that I'm worried about. The Wildfire boy is necessary for our plans. Wanting to know about the girl was only a diversion for me testing him to be sure of who he was."

"And is he, master?" Rokayu asked.

Ayato smiled, a ghostly smile, almost as if he'd forgotten how. "Yes, he is. He has many giveaway traits in him, such as stubbornness, but most of his character comes from his mother, and the traits of loyalty, the ability to love, and so on. It is the few remnants of me and my character in him that we need to wake, so that he can come into his full power and defeat the Ancient warrior. It is vital that he stays here long enough to turn him to our side, which is why we need him back."

* * *

"Ryo, are you sure he didn't ask you anything else?" Karala was pacing the room, looking extremely worried. 

"No, I'm positive he didn't. Why?"

"Because it doesn't make sense. They already know everything about me."

"How?" Kale asked, watching her face for any kind of sign that she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Because I told them." Karala turned to look at the rest of them, her eyes haunted with memories that it was obvious she didn't want to remember. Kale suddenly became very interested in his feet.

"Kal, just so we know, what else did you tell them?" Sage asked. "If they know all about you and us nothing about them, then we're at a serious disadvantage."

"I told them how my attack works, which didn't help them much because they can't stop it. I might have told them a couple of the special functions of my armour, but I don't think I told them anything else."

Mia broke in suddenly. "Maybe there's something in my grandfathers files. I'll go check." She got up off her seat on the sofa armrest and headed towards the door. She turned back just before going through. "Oh, and Kal? Sorry for being such a bitch!"

Karala grinned. "Exactly what I was about to say to you!"

When Mia had gone upstairs, Karala turned to Kayura and said with an impish smile. "Happy now?"

Kayura raised an eyebrow. "Perfect. Now all we need to do is get rid of Ayato and his Warlords and we'll be fine!"

Sage got up. "I'm going to go meditate in the forest. Call me if Mia finds anything."

Cye got up as well. "I'll go get dinner."

The Ronins and former Warlords dispersed slowly. Karala was soon left on her own.

She turned to her tiger, who was watching her with an unquestionable twinkle in it's eye. Suddenly it opened it's mouth and spoke in a woman's voice.

"You didn't tell them half of it."

"Like what, exactly?"

"About me, about your ability to sprout wings, about who you are exactly."

"What do you mean, about who I am?"

"For crying out loud, Karala, on your father's side you're descended from the Lord of Heaven, and on your mother's from the Lady of the Dead. You're practically a goddess, for heaven's sake!"

"So you don't think it was coincidence, then, the fact that my parents feel in love at first sight, and that I bear the armour of the Ancient?"

"I don't believe in coincidence, no more than I believe that it was by chance that you were sent to the Ronin Warriors to live after your parents died. I cannot tell you what I know, but I don't think your falling in love with Ryo is coincidence either. Why do you push him away? You surely aren't so blind as to think he's not in love with you too."

"I don't know. There's something about him that seems to reject the fact that he's in love, that such a feeling can exist. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but he's not as completely on our side as the others are. That I do know."

They were interrupted by a yell from Mia, telling them all to get up there immediately or else.

Sooner than later they were all gathered in Mia's study.

"I found another prophecy, hidden in the files. It needed a password. Strangely enough, the password is '_Ancient_'. Anyway, I'll read it out to you.

_The darkness is coming, seen by none but the defenders of mankind. The dark will not triumph, as long as the son of dark joins the daughter of light in the struggle against his father. If the son falters in his resolve, the world will fail and die, and the gods will be cast down from their thrones, and his father will rule forever with him at his side. The only barrier to this fate is the daughter of the gods, the daughter of light, and if she fails, her enslavement will be eternal._

_As foreseen by the Ancient, two days before his disappearance."_

"Cheerful." Kento commented.

"Wait, there's another part. This time it's the Ancient writing himself.

_My daughter, this is a great burden to place upon you, but I would like you to know that this prophecy was not of making, and if I could have spared you it, I would have. But only you can influence his choice. I am truly sorry for you, my great-grand-daughter. Be comforted in the knowledge that your family loves you, and will always be there for you. All of us."_

* * *

**Ok, revelations galore! I warn you, if you haven't figured out who the son is yet, then you're completely thick! It'll also explain the dream that both Karala and Ryo had. And now review!**

**Carline**


	12. Realisation

**Review from Beatrice : Look, I appreciate your right to say what you think, but bloody hell, if you're going to say it's crap then at least tell me why!**

**As to the reviews from School Boredom and Inda, they're very much appreciated, and this chapter is for you two.**

_**Chapter 11**_

The entire room went silent as they digested this. Finally Dais broke in, saying:

"I assume this means you're the daughter of light?"

Karala nodded, not taking her eyes off the screen, as if hoping that there was more, some way to escape it.

"So who's the son of dark?" Cye inquired.

"I could probably make an educated guess." Dais said thoughtfully. "I would say it's Ryo."

"What! Why?" Mia exclaimed, immediately up in arms in his defense.

"When you were captured, Ayato didn't give you a reason, apart from wanting to know about Kal, which isn't possible, because he already knows everything. He must have wanted to be sure it was you."

"But that's not possible either." Ryo broke in. "I knew my father, and this prophecy says that I would be the son of... well, Ayato, presumably, since he's the Emperor at the moment. Surely my father would have known?"

A new voice entered their argument. "No, he didn't."

Everyone stared in amazement at the tiger who'd just spoken. Karala was the one that answered. "How do you know, Flame?"

"Because I do. I could feel who he was as soon as I met him, just as I knew who you are."

"And you don't think it might have been a good idea to tell me this before?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you weren't ready to know."

Rowen interrupted their conversation. "It does make sense, though, you being Ayato's son. I mean, you've told us all that you didn't ever feel as if Mr. Sanada was your father, haven't you?"

"Yes, but I didn't really think he wasn't!"

"That's natural. Subconsciously, you knew this all along. Your mind was just keeping that fact out of the way, because it didn't want to have to confront it." Flame explained.

"Just who are you, exactly?" Sage interposed.

"I am a chameleon, which means I can take any shape I wish to. I am the servant of the bearer of the Ancient armour."

Ryo seemed at this point ready to kill. "Why me, though? Why, of all the people in the world, was it me?"

Karala smiled slightly. "Probably because the gods thought you the one most likely to make the right decision."

Ryo turned and stormed out of the room. After a short pause, Karala followed him. She found him down by the lake again, not moving, just standing there. She stood behind him for a few minutes, watching him.

The lake was completely still. Karala looked at her watch. It was four in the morning. They'd been so busy that they hadn't even noticed it was dark. She shook her head. Sage had gone out to meditate earlier that evening. He must have been well wrapped up in his thoughts!

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Ryo demanded brusquely.

"Might do. Depends on how bad a mood you're in."

"I'm fine."

Karala came to stand next to him. "It's not your fault, you know."

"Maybe, but somehow I find the idea that I'm the son of our worst enemy a little disturbing."

"Who wouldn't? You can't help who your parents are, however, and he doesn't have any power over you, not unless you're planning to apply to him for an allowance!"

Ryo grinned. "Guess not."

"Yeah, I don't suggest it either!"

"Very funny. Why does the prophecy say that you're the only one who can influence me?"

"I guess because..."

Karala was suddenly cut off by a movement behind them. They stood on guard for a minute, then a familiar armoured figure appeared out of thin air.

"Charaka..." Karala breathed.

Charaka grinned and bowed ironically to Ryo. "Prince..."


	13. Master

**Ok, reviews….**

**Thanks to Inda and Queen Diamond, you guys are the best! Thanks too to Thundebird, sorry for the plot line, but it was my first fic, so I didn't really worry too much about the plot! **

**Er... Thanks to Beatrice and H-chan, for actually bothering to leave a review if it's really crap, cause I wouldn't have! **

**There was someone who didn't leave a name who told me my French wasn't correct. Sorry, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It might be what the French call _un langage soutenu _but it's a teacher talking most of the time, so that's to be expected.**

_**Chapter 12**_

Someone yelled. Mia nearly jumped out of her skin in fright, before running to the door of her study to find out what it was. She ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, almost crashing into Kayura at the bottom. They both headed outside to find out, as Mia phrased it, what the hell was going on.

They arrived at the edge of the lake, where Karala and Ryo had been standing, and they were soon joined by everyone else, except, as Kayura soon noticed, Kal and Ryo.

Sage cleared his throat. "I guess this means they're gone."

Kento snorted. "State the obvious, Sage!"

"Shut up, you two, the last thing we need is for you to start fighting!" Sekhmet interpolated.

They both subsided immediately.

Kayura took a deep breath and spoke, her voice still shaking. "We're going to have to go after them."

Kento rolled his eyes. "Are we having a competition of state-the-obvious now?"

"Kento!"

"Sorry."

Kayura continued, her voice a little steadier. "If Ryo stays there too long, he'll probably switch sides. I can only hope Kal will be able to stop the process long enough for us to get him out of there. If not, well, as the prophecy says, we're doomed."

Anubis grinned. "I have the utmost confidence in Karala's ability to drive them all up the wall!"

* * *

Karala woke up in a dingy cell on her own.

'_Oh great! Just bloody wonderful! On my own in a cell, without Ryo, and no hope of getting out cause they took my armour crystal._'

She got up and looked around. The cell was dark, and judging from the scuffling she could hear, infested by rats. She sat back down. They weren't coming back for a while.

A few hours later, a key turned in the lock and Rokayu came in.

"Get up."

She complied, but in a slow movement designed to irritate him. It worked.

"Come with me."

She followed him along the corridor. Apparently, she had been the only inmate of the dungeons for quite some time. Which reminded her...

"Where's Ryo?"

Rokayu smiled slightly, a smile that bore an extraordinary resemblance to his master's. "Wildfire? You'll see him in a minute."

They reached what Karala knew to be Ayato's throne room. She followed Rokayu through the huge double doors, and found herself for the first time in a room with the emperor of the Dynasty. He watched her carefully as Rokayu pushed her into the centre of the room.

"You would be Ayato, then."

He smiled. "Yes, I am. Although I prefer master."

"Well I don't."

"How strange. Wildfire did."

* * *

**Sorry, this was a really short chapter, but I thought this would be a good place to stop. I'm sure you've all guessed what's happened, haven't you?****Carline**


	14. Switch

_**Chapter 13**_

_In the Dynasty_

Karala stepped back as though slapped.

"No..."

Ayato looked unspeakably smug. The proverbial cat who's got the cream look.

"Oh, I'm afraid so. His mind was very easy to overcome. There's a small part of it that I can't control, but that will change very soon."

He paused to look at her. She'd gone white as a sheet.

"You see, the only way I can bring him under my full control is to cause him an excruciating amount of emotional pain."

Karala's mouth went dry. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make him kill you."

Karala didn't even blink. "You know, death threats get a little boring when you've heard them as often as I have."

"I wouldn't bother with the smart comments. You really are quite naive when you want to be, aren't you? He'll kill you, along with all of your friends who are at this moment trying to break down the Dynasty's defenses. I'll let them in in a moment, they'll find their way here, and I'll have Wildfire kill you all."

"And you really think Ryo could take on all of the armours at once, on his own?"

"Of course not. He won't have to fight Hardrock, Halo, Torrent and Strata. I imagine you know about the armour of Inferno? All he has to do is absorb them. I've found a way to overcome the need for them to give him their armours. He can know take them whenever he wants. Or rather, whenever I want."

The door burst open behind them, and the rest of the Warriors and Warlords tumbled through. Kayura held something out to Karala. Her armour crystal.

Ayato laughed. "And so it ends. You've been worthy opponents, all of you. I'll almost be sorry to see you die."

He closed his eyes for a second. A door slid open on his left. Ryo came through. Not the Ryo they knew, though.

His armour had turned a darker red, and all the white was replaced with black. But the thing that caught Kal's attention was his eyes. They'd gone black, with no pupils, no white, just black.

Ayato continued. "I hope you liked dying, Anubis. You're about to do it again."

Everyone took fighting stance.

"What's the point of fighting a battle you know you're going to lose? Why bother?" Ayato taunted them.

"Because we must." Karala replied, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Fine." Ayato closed his eyes again, obviously giving an order to Ry... No, not Ryo. To Wildfire. To the son of dark. Not Ryo.

Wildfire moved forward, drawing his katanas. Karala transformed quickly. She watched Ryo move towards them. '_God, if you're up there, I could really use some help around now!_'

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**Another disgracefully short chapter. Extremely sorry. **

**Carline **


	15. Death

**Ok, this is the next to last chapter. Nearly finished! Thanks to all my reviewers.**

**P.S. I've just gone and reread Element, and I'm getting very good at the 'predicting the end of the world as we know it' thing, aren't I?**

_**Chapter 14**_

The Ronins stood fixed in place for a few seconds, not seeming to believe what was happening. Eventually, they turned to Karala to see what she would do. She pulled out her katanas and moved into a fighting stance. Their faces registered shock. Surely she wouldn't...

It seemed she would.

Ryo smirked slightly, then brought his katanas down to crash on her's. She blocked the thrust, retaliated and moved back to let Rowen get a shot at him. The fight had begun.

Cye was the first to go. Ryo had managed to hold the rest of them off for a while, and when Cye charged him, threw him into the opposite wall. Hard. They heard some of his bones crack as he hit the ground. Kento's face was contorted with rage.

"That's my best buddy you just threw into a wall, pal! You are so going down!"

Kento was the next to go.

Karala stepped aside of the fighting for a moment to talk to Kayura. The older woman looked seriously frightened.

"How can we stop him? He's too strong!"

Karala ducked as Anubis came sailing over their heads to crash into the wall behind.

"I don't know, Kayura. I don't think he can be stopped."

"But you have to! You're the daughter of light, aren't you!"

Karala said nothing.

"Look Kal, isn't there anything you can do to stop this? If we don't defeat him then the entire world'll be destroyed!"

Karala watched as Rowen was knocked out. They were now down four warriors and Ryo didn't seem to have even a scratch.

"Maybe if we all attack him at once..." she said slowly.

Kayura nodded, and communicated the order to all the warriors.

* * *

Ryo looked at the circle of warriors surrounding him and laughed. They were so pitiful, they couldn't even put up a fight when they were being beaten.

They all attacked. He didn't move.

The attacks engulfed him, removing him from sight. A moment later, when all the dust from the consequent explosion had cleared, he was still standing there, just as he was before.

He smiled.

"Do you really think you can beat me? You're even stupider than I thought! Flare up now!" The last sentence was a scream.

Fire consumed the remaining fighters, but this fire was black, black as night. When the attack stopped, only Karala was left standing.

Ryo moved forward, catching her thrust on his own blades, swiping under her guard and ... running her through.

Ayato looked stunned. The girl was smiling, looking happy to have lost. It wasn't 'til she spoke that he understood.

"I guess we win, Ayato. You probably didn't consider that making him kill us... me, would provoke his turning back to us." Her voice grew weak.

Ryo's eyes cleared, returning to their usual blue. He looked at Karala, as if knowing what was happening but not wanting to accept it.

She fell to her knees. "Game, set and match, Ayato. I win."

She sank to the floor, and didn't move.

Ryo's eyes began to blaze with fire. Ayato's eyes widened as his son turned round to face him.

A moment later, the Dynasty exploded.

* * *

Ryo found himself with the other Ronins and Warlords in front of Mia's mansion. Back home.

He looked around. The others were just starting to wake up.

Kayura groaned. "What happened?"

Ryo didn't meet anyone's eye. "We won."

Sage looked around. "Where's Karala?"

"Dead."

Kayura gasped. "No... How?"

"I killed her."

The Ronins' faces went very quickly from sadness to anger. The Warlords' and Kayura's showed... understanding.

Kento shook with anger. "What! You killed her? How could you do something like that!"

"I didn't choose to." Ryo's eyes were bright with unshed tears. He got up and went inside.

* * *

**She's dead! Help! I just killed my own characters off! Ok, only one more chappie to go!**

**Carline**


	16. Epilogue

**So, here it is, people. The last chapter of my first fic! Hope you like it.**

_**Epilogue**_

Death is a strange thing.

Some people find ways to cheat it, some accept it, some simply don't care. And then there's those who are given another chance. Another chance to live their lives more fully than they did before.

Karala Trinity was one of those lucky people.

She woke up in a temple. A familiar one, somehow... Of course. How could she forget? Her father's temple. The one she'd grown up around. She smiled. Life felt wonderful after dying. She'd never meant for it to happen that way, but she'd had no choice. She'd died. The last tiny bit of her innocence was swept away. But she was alive. It was enough.

She walked through her house, putting her thoughts in order. She'd have to go and find the Ronins soon. She'd been dead for almost a month, and she'd watched all of them as they coped with her death. She smiled ruefully. She'd go see them soon. First she wanted a little time for herself. She didn't think she could face them all so soon after what happened.

She came without noticing into her bedroom. Maybe she'd move back here, when she finished school, after all. She'd intended to sell the place when she came of age, but now that she considered it... no. It would be like selling her memories to someone who wouldn't understand them. She'd never sell it. And who knew. There was Ryo and the others. She'd manage somehow.

Karala Trinity walked outside into the garden, feeling the wind on her face. It was good to be back.

* * *

**She's not dead! Sorry to all those who don't like her, but I wanted to set up a sequel here. Come on, last chance to review my first and favourite fic!**

**Carline**


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